New York|Michael Grimm, a Former Congressman and Felon, Wants His Job Back

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Michael Grimm, a Former Congressman and Felon, Wants His Job Back

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Former Representative Michael Grimm, a Staten Island Republican who went to jail for felony tax fraud, announced on Sunday he is running for his old job.CreditCreditKevin Hagen for The New York Times

By Shane Goldmacher

Oct. 1, 2017

Standing in front of a giant American flag, Michael Grimm, the former congressman from Staten Island who was forced to resign for felony tax fraud, formally announced on Sunday his candidacy to recapture his old seat.

The battle between Mr. Grimm and Representative Dan Donovan for the Republican nomination immediately becomes one of the most intriguing congressional primaries in the nation next year, and gives Democrats renewed hope to pick off the last congressional Republican who still represents New York City in a district that has proved elusive in recent years.

His second life as a candidate would seem to be a remarkable and unlikely turnaround for Mr. Grimm, a former Marine, a former F.B.I. agent, a former congressman and a former felon who served seven months in prison.

But at the announcement rally on Staten Island — where numerous attendees rolled up in motorcycle gear and muscle cars, including a yellow Corvette, and a girls’ cheering squad performed and later posed for pictures — there was little sense that Mr. Grimm’s criminal past mattered much.

The brash Mr. Grimm is seeking to revive his political career with an unusual blend of patriotism and victimhood. While apologizing for his past crimes, he said he had faced “the entire Obama Justice Department weaponized against me” and vowed to return to public service.

“This is Middle America,” Mr. Grimm declared moments after taking the stage. Before the national anthem, he not so subtly invoked Mr. Trump to cheers: “I know no one here is going to be taking a knee.”

With his law enforcement credentials, tart tongue and square jaw, Mr. Grimm, the rare elected Republican in New York City, was once seen as a future star. Troubles with the law cut short his career.

There was no doubt that Mr. Grimm made an impression in his two terms, after winning in the Tea Party wave of 2010. In 2014, he beat back a Democratic challenger while under federal indictment, only to give up his seat when he pleaded guilty to tax fraud for underreporting wages at a restaurant he owned and filing false tax documents.

“I know what he did was wrong. He did his time,” said Cathy Reid, a Staten Island Republican who arrived to support Mr. Grimm’s comeback in a three-wheeled motorcycle, wearing a black helmet with an “If I’d shot you when I wanted, I’d be out by now” sticker on it.

“Every business does that,” she said. “He was made an example of.”

While Mr. Grimm said he was “truly sorry” for his transgressions, saying he wished he was “perfect but I am not,” he also made light of them. He said he first began working for his father at age 11. “Yeah, it was off the books,” he joked.

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Thea Friscia, center, and Roseanne Liveo, right, cheer during the rally on Staten Island, where Michael Grimm announced he is running again.CreditKevin Hagen for The New York Times

Some in Staten Island said they welcomed Mr. Grimm’s blunt manner, especially after seeing his outspoken advocacy after Hurricane Sandy.

“He got down and dirty,” said Thea Friscia.

On the way to the rally, her friend Cathy Bannon stopped at a dollar store to pick up a “Welcome Home” balloon, like for those returning from hospital stays, in a show of support. “Michael was the only one who stood with us,” she said.

Another woman, Maria Romagnuolo, added that Mr. Grimm had gotten her disabled son a “mobility scooter” after the storm. “He’s one of us,” she said.

Mr. Donovan, a former Staten Island district attorney, is expected to have the support of much of the Republican political apparatus both in New York and nationally. He has $300,000 cash on hand.

Mr. Grimm ended June with $420,000 in unpaid campaign legal bills. He entered into a “confidential settlement” with the law firm he owed, according to spokesman Michael Caputo. He also owed nearly $150,000 in tax restitution payments. Mr. Grimm borrowed money from family and “a friend” to pay off that debt, Mr. Caputo said, adding that the lenders would be disclosed on a future financial disclosure form.

At his rally, the signs had the required Federal Election Commission disclosures either added with stickers or taped onto them.

Jessica Proud, a spokeswoman for Mr. Donovan, dismissed Mr. Grimm’s candidacy: “We’re not really concerned about a challenge from a convicted felon who was rated one of the most liberal Republicans in Congress.”

The bigger fear among national Republicans is that Mr. Grimm would lose the primary to Mr. Donovan and then seek to stay on the ballot as a third-party candidate, dividing the vote and opening a pathway for Democrats.

“He’s keeping all of his options open,” Mr. Caputo said.

A former campaign adviser to Mr. Trump, Mr. Caputo is helping Mr. Grimm make the case he would be a stronger ally to the president. “It’s time to make anti-Trump Republicans pay a price at the polls,” Mr. Caputo said.

Mr. Grimm once famously threatened to throw a reporter who asked about the federal investigation off a balcony during a television interview. “I’ll break you in half,” Mr. Grimm said then. “Like a boy.”

He initially blamed the reporter for his question but later apologized.

When Mr. Grimm was sentenced to prison, the judge in his case told him, “Your moral compass, Mr. Grimm, needs some reorientation.”

Mr. Grimm said on Sunday that he had matured. Still, he remained ever combative.

“I took my lumps like a man,” Mr. Grimm said. “We took more than we should have.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: He’s Out of Prison, and Now He Wants To Get His Job Back. It’s in Congress.. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe